Quick Start Guide to Pageflakes, the Blizzard Release

Welcome to the New Pageflakes!

Pageflakes is better than ever with new features, Flakes, page sharing, and many more enhancements.

What's New?

  • Personalize Using One Button

  • Publish & Share Pages Better: Enhanced Pagecasts

  • Personalize the look and feel of every page using Themes

  • Add Your Personal Profile & Pic

  • Find & Add People to Your Favorites

  • Choose from more than 240,000 Flakes (widgets) and over 100,000 Pagecasts (shared pages) from users and from select media partners



What's on this page?

This Quick Start guide covers the basics for new users and points our what's new for more experienced users.

New Controls for New Features

Updates, Enhancements, and More


Header 101

  1. Page Titles & Adding Pages—The page Title features click-and-edit simplicity, so you can name your page easily.
    Add Page lets you add an additional page at any time.

  2. Use the utility links to logout, get help, switch to the newsreader viewing mode, or send the page you're viewing to a friend.

  3. Click the Community icon to see what's new, who's new, and what Pagecasts are hot in the community.

  4. Click the Pageflakes Menu Button to do almost anything in Pageflakes:

    Browse the gallery of almost 240,000 Flakes

    Create your Personal Profile, find or create your Pagecast.

    Personalize virtually every aspect of your page's look and feel using Themes. You can select a preset theme, or create your own by uploading images and tweaking individual page elements and using layout controls.

By default, the gallery opens to reveal the Top Flakes in logical categories, but there's also a button to take you to the main gallery where you can search the entire Flake catalog Browse All Flakes.

Community Button

The Community Button brings you all things social and interactive within the Pageflakes user community.

Click the Community Button to find out about new Flakes, Pagecasts, new user Profiles that have been added recently, and catch up on the latest Pageflakes news.




Browse Flakes Tab

Select the Browse Flakes tab on the left. Flakes are organized into handy categories (1). The Browse Full Gallery button (2) remains handy.

3. Use the Add RSS Feed button to add any feed. This lets you put all of your favorite feeds on one page, or categorize them by placing them on separate pages. Pagecast your collection if you want to share with friends or colleagues.

Pagecasts Tab

View top Pagecasts created by Pageflakes' community members and media partners like Entertainment Tonight.

Members decide what pages to Pagecast and which to keep private.

Many Pagecasts contain amazing content you might never discover on your own! There are over 120,000 user-created Pagecasts.


Pagecast Menu

When you click on a Pagecast to check it out, you have several options:

1. Click Watch to see the page in real-time from your own account. You'll see any updates made by the owner, but you can't edit it.

2. Click Copy if you want to add what's on the page to a page in your own account. This allows you to edit your personal copy of the page, but it also disconnects the page from its original source.

3. Send to a Friend lets you email the pagecast source URL to a friend so they can check it out and decide if they want to Watch or Copy it (or email it on!).

4. Random Pagecast does pretty much what it says. If you like channel surfing or picking up odd magazines now and then, you'll love this feature! You'll be amazed at what you might find.


Change Theme Tab

Themes let users extend Pageflakes deep personalization capabilities to the look and feel of every page.

  1. Choose from one of many pre-designed themes such as Grass, Pink Pong, Aqua, and more or use the Create your own Theme button to personalize virtually any page element.

You can even upload your own images for the header or background. Go crazy! Once you've created a theme you love, apply them to as many of your pages as you want. Your themes are saved in your account. If you really love your theme and want to share it, you can send it in for review. It could get published to the entire community!


My Profile Tab

The new My Profile tab lets users share their interests and get connected by email or by sharing their pagecasts. You can upload your picture so other members can see who they're talking to!

The My Profile tab gives users control over how much of their information, if any, get shared to the Pageflakes community. Each element of your profile can be marked as Private or Public, giving you ultimate control over your profile and private information!

Account information such as your email address and password can be found in the Account tab.

Sign up for the Pageflakes Newsletter by clicking on the Settings tab. You can also choose whether to display the Web search bar on your header or not.


The Anything Flake

The new Anything Flake lets you add any type of content from text to images or even build custom HTML applications. This Flake can be used to personalize pages and Pagecasts even more fully.

For non-technical users, its WSYWIG editor lets users write text, add images, or grab URLs or other content from the Web and drop it in. Essentially, If you can use Microsoft Word, you can make a Flake. For example, a new mom or dad might copy images from their digital camera and paste them into their Pageflakes page or Pagecast.

Advanced users can take the Anything Flake much further using HTML and Flash components.


The Improved Multimedia RSS Flake

Pageflakes' new Multimedia RSS Flake delivers audio and video along with images and articles right in the Flake.

This flake displays or plays whatever content the feed can dish out in the proper format, so video podcasts, streaming audio, images and text all work the way they're supposed to.

Now you can follow your favorite music, video, and image feeds using this versatile new Flake.

Flake Controls & Easier Mail-to-a-Friend

1. Flake controls come to life when you roll your mouse over the Flake header.

At the lower border of each flake, you'll find the small triangular "window shade" control that lets you expand and collapse Flakes.

2. The header gives you access to the controls you need the most.

  • Refresh the Flake content by clicking the Refresh Flake button.
  • Send the Flake to a friend click the envelope control. The envelope also contains the Take Flake feature, which lets you copy the Flake's HTML snippet so you can add it to a Web site.
  • Click the edit button to edit the Flake's settings.
  • Click the small "x" in the upper right corner to remove the Flake from your page.

Media Partnerships for Flakes and Pagecasts

Partnerships with media outlets and producers including CBS Television, Newsweek, and AOL continue to provide immersive, branded Pagecasts to the Pageflakes community.

The Entertainment Tonight and The Insider Pagecasts connects these popular television show's producers with fans in a fresh, immediate, fully branded setting.

Partner Pagecasts let media producers mash up content from as many sources and outlets as they want to deliver the richest possible experience to every Pageflakes user.